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The latest installment of the "Powerball Show" is now available to the entire world. If you like the good ol' days of rock and roll, then check out the digital danceland at Rock-it Radio.So grab yourself a soda, get Peggy Sue a milk shake and click on the Jukebox for the good time sounds of the "Powerball Show"

An al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization threatened to attack Rome .The organization called the Organization of al Qaeda - Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula posted a statement on an Internet site which said, "We warn Rome, the capital of infidels, that the lions of Jihad in Europe are ready to launch strong strikes against the collaborating government with the crusaders, the Americans, the enemies of God, the Prophet and Muslims."

The Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania today released a joint statement, Questions and Answers on Stem Cell Research. The document is intended to serve as an educational tool for clarifying the Church's teaching on the issue and explaining why embryonic stem cell research is morally unacceptable.

Upon releasing the document, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, said, "The Catholic Church's rich heritage of ethical teaching in the medical-moral area and her duty to transmit moral guidance provide a framework for decision-making and the understanding of stem cell research. The Church encourages the development of human understanding in this area in a manner that respects the sanctity of human life at every stage.

"The bishops note that we are reminded in the "Vatican Instruction on Respect for Human Life" that "no objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human beings, or to society, can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos or fetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside the mother's body."Dr. Robert J. O'Hara, Jr., executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, said, "At a time when public policy makers are considering spending taxpayer money to finance various bio-medical research initiatives, it is appropriate to consider the moral impact of such research."

The Islamic clerical regime’s henchmen publicly hanged two young boys in Edalat (Justice) Square in Mashhad (northeast Iran). One was 18 and the other below 18 years of age. Before hanging the victims, the henchmen flogged each of them 228 times. The executioners wore masks fearing reprisals and anti-riot forces put the entire area under their control to prevent outbreak of public protests.

The victims were charged with disrupting public order among other things. They were imprisoned 14 months ago, one was 16 years old at the time of the alleged offenses.

The rise in public executions, including those of juveniles, comes as the European Union has refused in the past three years to table a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission to condemn the violations of human rights in Iran.

New York Republican Gov. George Pataki on Wednesday said he would not seek a fourth term, clearing the way for an expected run for the White House.

"Today with pride in our accomplishments, enduring enthusiasm for New York's future and heartfelt gratitude to its people, I am announcing that I will not seek another term as your governor," he said in the state capital of Albany. "Come 2007, I will follow a new path, find new challenges."

A man who is terminally ill and fears that doctors may allow him to die of thirst said he was "disappointed" yesterday after the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier judgment in his favour.

Last July, the High Court granted a challenge by Leslie Burke, 45, and declared that key sections of General Medical Council guidance on withdrawal of life-prolonging treatment were unlawful. Mr Burke suffers from cerebellar ataxia, a progressively degenerative brain condition that follows a similar course to multiple sclerosis. Mr Burke will need artificial nutrition and hydration - known as ANH - when he loses the ability to swallow.

The court ruled "There are no grounds for thinking that those caring for such a patient would be entitled to or would take a decision to withdraw ANH in such circumstances. A patient cannot demand that a doctor administer a treatment which the doctor considers is adverse to the patient's clinical needs. That said, we consider the scenario that we have just described is extremely unlikely to arise."

The Food and Drug Administration's decision to strengthen language on the "morning after" abortion drug is 'insufficient' after reports that two more women have died, a pro-life advocacy group maintains.

Five women in the United States and Canada have died from septic shock after taking RU-486, or mifepristone, points out Concerned Women for America.

If I'm dreaming here you will never read this. If I'm not then I can't believe I'm about to say this... I agree with Al Sharpton on something! (I'm not calling him Rev. Sharpton for many reasons but that a different story).

Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton blasted blacks for what he described as their blind support of the Democratic Party without demanding anything in return.

Sharpton, during his remarks at the National Urban League's annual conference in Washington, noted that his fellow Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, have taken African-American voters for granted and failed to act in the best interests of the black community.

Sharpton noted that African-American men make up 6 percent of the U.S. population but 44 percent of the nation's prison population. "And just because Bill can sing "Amazing Grace" well doesn't mean the omnibus crime bill was not a bill that hurt our people," Sharpton told the several hundred people gathered at the Washington Convention Center.

"We must stop allowing people to gain politically from us if they're not reciprocating when dealing and being held accountable," said Sharpton, referring to the allegiance that African-American voters maintain to the Democratic Party. Sharpton said many politicians who court the black vote "come by and get our votes 'cause they wave at us on Sunday morning while the choir's singing. And we act like that is reaching out."

"Imagine me going to a convention of whites who half of them were unemployed and I smiled, waved, sing a hymn and leave. They would whip me in the parking lot before [I left]," he said to laughter and applause. "As long as we allow people to get elected off of us and deliver nothing to us, then part of our problem is that we have such low political self esteem," he said. "Every time we give them support for no support, we add to the marginalization of black men."

Sharpton also took aim at black popular culture. Noting that in some U.S. cities, black male unemployment exceeds 50 percent, Sharpton said black music and movies only aggravate the situation.

"Even if we [are] not responsible for being down, we [are] responsible for getting up," he said. "And if we wait on those who knocked us down to lift us up we'll never get up 'cause if they wanted us up we would have never been down," he said.

Remarks made by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts eight years ago indicate he has a view on judicial restraint shared by pro-life groups.

In two 1997 cases, the Supreme Court upheld laws against assisted suicide, ruling that no right to assisted suicide exists. But the Court did allow that states could decide whether to allow assisted suicides to take place.

In an interview that year on a PBS news program, Roberts was asked about the Court’s decision. "I think it’s important not to have too narrow a view of protecting personal rights,” he said."The right that was protected in the assisted-suicide case was the right of the people through their legislatures to articulate their own views on the policies that should apply in those cases of terminating life, and not to have the court interfering in those policy decisions. That’s an important right.”

Pro-life groups applaud that view, which would favor upholding pro-life laws approved by federal and state legislators.

Today on "As The Burgh Turns" a former neighborhood policy assistant for Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy is sentenced in U.S. District Court to four years' probation on federal money laundering charges.

Chatiqua Good, 33, of the 1600 block of Buena Vista Street on the North Side, pleaded guilty in September 2003 to helping a relative, Michael Keith Good, launder $70,000 in drug money from her desk in the City-County Building.

In taped conversations, she plotted with Michael Keith Good, who she called "Uncle Mike," to purchase a $70,000 apartment building on the North Side and place the deed in the name of another relative, so as not to raise suspicions about where Michael Good got the money.

Michael Keith Good, the leader of a North Side drug ring, pleaded guilty last year to drug trafficking and other charges and was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in federal prison.

China is building up its nuclear forces as part of a secret strategy targeting the United States, according to a former Chinese diplomat. China's strategy calls for "proactive defense," and senior Chinese Communist Party leaders think that building nuclear arms is the key to countering U.S. power in Asia and other parts of the world, said Chen Yonglin, a diplomat who defected to Australia two months ago.

A recent comment by a Chinese general shows that Beijing's leaders are prepared to launch "a pre-emptive attack on the country considered a huge threat to China," Mr. Chen said. Chinese Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu told reporters two weeks ago that China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against "hundreds" of U.S. cities if a conflict breaks out over Taiwan.

Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics - the nation's two largest religious blocs - have a relationship that's been marked in the past by hostility and tension. But now, almost 500 years after Martin Luther, one of the top U.S. evangelical thinkers has co-authored a book that finds an increasingly warm relationship between Catholics and evangelicals.

"Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism" (Baker) by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom argues that not only on contemporary political issues such as abortion but also on matters of spirituality Catholics and the Protestant conservatives have ever more in common.

Summarizing the situation, Noll - a historian at Wheaton College in Illinois - said in an interview that he sees "quite serious differences, but not differences of life and death as they were regarded for at least four centuries."

He believes three events in particular fostered harmony:

-Catholicism's Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which encouraged contacts with Protestants and abolished for good the papacy's one-time hostility toward democracy and freedom of conscience in religion.

-The U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 liberal ruling on abortion, which provoked joint social activism, now reinforced by the same-sex marriage issue.

-The 1978 election of Pope John Paul II, who became a hero to evangelicals for helping topple European Communism and for speaking effectively on behalf of Christian tradition.

Other religious thinkers beyond Noll and Nystrom, a freelance writer who attends Noll's Presbyterian church, agree that the climate is warming.

"The admiration for John Paul II is simply astounding given (evangelicals') historic real hatred for the papacy," says William Shea of the College of the Holy Cross. His 2004 work "The Lion and the Lamb: Evangelicals and Catholics in America" (Oxford) parallels the Noll-Nystrom book from the Catholic side. If anything, he thinks, Pope Benedict XVI is closer to the evangelicals' outlook than John Paul II.

Even Michael S. Horton of Westminster Seminary California, an evangelical who remains sharply critical of Catholic theology, says that "the perceived cultural collapse of the West has become such an overwhelming preoccupation of conservative Catholics and Protestants that just about anything and everything else is on the back burner."

The political turnabout since the 1960 presidential campaign was neatly framed last year by religious right activist Gary Bauer:"When John F. Kennedy made his famous speech that the Vatican would not tell him what to do, evangelicals and Southern Baptists breathed a sign of relief. But today evangelicals and Southern Baptists are hoping that the Vatican will tell Catholic politicians what to do."

Though the culture wars command much of the media attention, Noll and Nystrom are more interested in spiritual links between the two groups, which combined make up more than half of all American churchgoers. A notable example: When the Rev. Billy Graham first preached in Cracow, Poland, the man who invited him was in Rome being elected Pope John Paul.Meanwhile, on the official level, the Vatican and the U.S. Catholic bishops are much more engaged with the centrally organized "mainline" Protestant churches than the conservative evangelicals.

That increases the importance of unofficial talks, in particular "Evangelicals and Catholics Together," led by Catholic priest Richard John Neuhas of First Things magazine and prison evangelist Charles Colson. Participants have issued four joint statements (Noll endorsed the first two, while Horton was opposed) and are at work on a fifth.

Noll and Nystrom acknowledge that evangelicalism can be prickly and puzzling - a complex movement consisting of denominations, local congregations, independent organizations and individualistic leaders. Like Noll, Shea thinks most ongoing disagreements stem from two radically different views of the church. "We Catholics are churchy people and we have a stack of beliefs about the church and perceptions of the church that evangelicals don't have," Shea says, calling this "the big block that is almost insurmountable."

Evangelicals famously champion the Reformation principle of "Scripture alone" as the source of religious authority, whereas Catholicism enshrines both Scripture and tradition as interpreted through the church. Other examples include the authority of the papacy and its dogmas about Mary. Yet both Noll and Shea believe the evangelicals are much closer to Catholicism on central Christian teachings than more liberal Protestants. So, does that mean the Reformation is over? Noll summarizes: "The answer is not yes, but it's moving in the direction of yes."

IHEU representative David Littman tried to deliver a prepared text in the names of three international NGOs – the Association for World Education, the Association of World Citizens and the IHEU – but was blocked by the "heavy-handed intervention" of Islamic representatives of the panel. Littman said that after repeated interruptions, he was unable to complete his speech.The Muslims members said they saw the text as an attack on Islam.

This week began with the news of an ongoing investigation of payola involving some of the largest broadcasting companies in the world. Now there is news the the liberal pep rally known as "Air America" is reportedly been caught up in a probe into whether funds for after-school programs for poor children in New York City have been improperly diverted.

The city's Department of Investigation is said to be examining allegations that hundreds of thousands of city dollars were illegally invested in the liberal radio network by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, according to a report earlier this month in the Bronx News.

Evan Cohen, who resigned under fire as chairman of Air America Radio shortly after the network began in 2003, served as director of development for the Gloria Wise Club, the paper said.

Well if Archie and Sammy Davis Jr. could get along anything is possible......

Ku Klux Klansman-turned-Senator Robert Byrd has won passage of a bill that would fund a memorial to civil rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King.Byrd, who filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act for 14-straight hours, won "a significant political victory," according to the Associated Press, by securing $10 million in funding for the King monument.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, which has already raised $40 million for the memorial, would have to raise another $10 million in private funds before it could receive the Byrd grant. The King memorial will be built on a four-acre site next to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall.

NASA suspended further flights of the space shuttle fleet on Wednesday after determining that a large piece of insulating foam had broken off the external fuel tank of the Discovery shortly after liftoff Tuesday morning, the same problem that doomed the Columbia and its seven astronauts in the last mission, two and a half years ago.

The foam does not appear to have struck the Discovery, so the decision will not curtail its 12½-day mission to the International Space Station, the officials said. But further flights will be postponed indefinitely, starting with that of the Atlantis, which was to have lifted off as early as September.

NASA's success largely depends on the work of its contractors—on which NASA spends about 85 percent of its annual budget. In 1990, GAO designated NASA's contract management as high risk. This area has been designated as high risk principally because NASA has lacked a modern financial management system to provide accurate and reliable information on contract spending and placed little emphasis on end results, product performance, and cost control.

The detection of another large breakaway piece of insulating foam is a potentially devastating setback for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a bitter counterpoint to the elation of Monday's seemingly perfect launching of the Discovery, a return to flight that was hailed as an inspiring comeback for the space program.

As recently as last month, NASA had been warned that foam insulation on the space shuttle's external fuel tank could sheer off as it did in the 2003 Columbia disaster - a problem that has plagued space shuttle flights since NASA switched to a non-Freon-based type of foam insulation to comply with Clinton Administration Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Instead of returning the much safer, politically incorrect, Freon-based foam for Discovery's launch, the space agency tinkered with the application process, changing "the way the foam was applied to reduce the size and number of air pockets," according to Newsday.

Five Egyptian men with maps of the New York City subway system and video of New York landmarks have been arrested by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, N.J.ABC News is reporting that FBI and law enforcement officials said that the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills.

FBI officials said the men have no known link to a terror network but noted that none of them could adequately explain the items they had in their possession, the large amount of money or their reasons for being in the United States. One man, Mohamed Ibrahim Gaber has been a fugitive since he jumped ship from an Egyptian freighter in September 2000.

The city and Allegheny County have no money for a new arena for the Penguins, but the state and private investors -- including Pittsburgh's eventual slots casino operator -- could pay the freight, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato said Tuesday.

Onorato, who has talked with Gov. Ed Rendell about the issue, said he believes the state Gaming Control Board could make it a requirement that the holder of the city's $50 million license to build a slot-machine casino must contribute some profits toward a hockey arena.

Onorato said he also believes the state could provide some money for an arena from its capital budget. Private money could be raised through donations, as well as the sale of naming rights and corporate boxes, he said.

Editors Note: Let me get this straight.... We want a gambling operator to fund an arena for a professional sports team. Maybe we could get Pete Rose to broker the deal.

"A lot of the reason two parents work is ... to make ends meet. One of the reasons for that is the federal government, back in the 1950s, took, on average, from the average American family, 2 percent of their income in taxes. Today that same federal government takes 25 percent of their income in taxes."

"If you look at the difference between then and now, you see that huge difference, and one other difference. You have a working spouse now, in most American families; you didn't in the 1950s. On average, that working spouse earns 25 percent of what the primary worker in that household earns ... in other words, many spouses are working today simply to make up the difference of what the federal government is robbing them."

"We need to change that kind of policy - we need a tax policy that is directly more pro-family, that helps people make choices about what's best for them."

"I believe we solve problems best, and America is better, if we look first at the family, strengthen the family, and build up from there, as opposed to the top down ... the government raining down their ideology upon us."

"Families are being destroyed, communities are being destroyed" by the far-left and far-right ideology that says you have the freedom to do whatever you want, no matter what - that choice is the maximum virtue."

When witnesses are sworn in, the religious texts of non-Christian faiths should be allowed in North Carolina courts along with the Bible, the ACLU argued in lawsuit filed against the state Tuesday. Denying the use of other religious texts would violate the Constitution by favoring Christianity over religions, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina said in its lawsuit.

State law allows witnesses preparing to testify in court to take their oath either by laying a hand over a "Holy Scripture," by saying "so help me God" without the use of a religious book, or by using no religious symbols.

Muslims from the Al-Ummil Ummat Islamic Center in Greensboro had tried to donate copies of the Quran to Guilford County's two courthouses last month. The two top judges in the county decided that Muslims could not legally take an oath on the Quran.

Back in the 1950's the radio world was rocked with the issue of "payola". It was a simple practice: Pay money to get your record on the air. It was also illegal and brought many DJ's, radio stations and record labels to their knees.

Well now that word from a bygone era is back in the news. Sony, one of the largest record companies in the world, has admitted they "bought" hits for some big name artists.

Memo's that have been released as part of an investigation read like this:

"Please be advised that in this week's Jennifer Lopez Top 40 Spin Increase of 236 we bought 63 spins at a cost of $3,600."

"Please be advised that in this week's Good Charlotte Top 40 Spin Increase of 61 we bought approximately 250 spins at a cost of $17K..."

If that seems like alot of money just to have a song played, consider what a hit song can do. Not only do you have record sales, but you also have concerts,endorsementss,sponsorships, videos and all the licensed merchandise from clothing to perfume.

The internal memos from Sony Music, revealed today in the New York state attorney general's investigation of payola at the company, will be mind blowing to those who are not so jaded to think records are played on the radio because they're good. Have you ever heard a really bad song and wonder how it became a "hit"?

From Epic, home of J-Lo, a memo from Nov. 12, 2002, a "rate" card that shows radio stations in the Top 23 markets (Pittsburgh is #23) will receive $1000, Markets 23-100 get $800, lower markets $500. "If a record receives less than 75 spins at any given radio station, we will not pay the full rate," the memo to DJs states. "We look forward to breaking many records together in the future."

It's not only cash these guys were paying. Black-and-white evidence of plasma TVs, laptop computers and PlayStation 2 players (ALL OF WHICH SONY MAKES) being sent to DJ's and radio programmers in exchange for getting records on the air. And not just electronic gifts went to these people either. According to the papers released today, the same people also received expensive trips, limousines and lots of other incentives to clutter the airwaves with the junk passed off as pop music.

So does this go on in Pittsburgh? YOU BET IT DOES! I worked at a sister station of a now defunct TOP 40 radio station. While I personally never received anything, I will tell you record labels have paid for station t-shirts and promotional items. In one instance, an independent record promoter (who acts as a middle man between the record company and the station) provided airfare, hotel and tickets to see the Steelers play in Jacksonville, FL in exchange for adding a record to the play list of a Pittsburgh station. As soon as the trip was over, so was the song.

Most of the people behind all this are still there and still managing several area stations. They pick the songs you get to hear on Pittsburgh radio. Everything from Rock, Pop and Country. So the next time you here an awful "hit song" you might wan't to ask if someone sold you to the highest bidder?

As attacks continue around the globe, these agents of evil who hide behind the mantra of Islam, seek attention by posting thier exploits on the web. A video has been located on a terrorist website. The video shows an overview of the locations of the blasts on a city map of Sharm el-Sheikh, identifying the attack locations in this tourist resort area.

While the video is not in English, some things. First, No one is takes direct responsibility for these bombings. The bombers are simply congratulated, and not named.

This video also says that they are: "waiting for Number Six (#6)."Unfortunately, there is no further explanation for this "NUMBER SIX" phrase. The major question stemming from this video is: WHO or WHAT is Number Six (#6)? What, exactly, are "they" waiting on?

The Church of England is to allow gay clergy to enter into civil partnerships but only if they promise to abstain from sex, according to guidance issued yesterday.

In a "pastoral statement", the House of Bishops said that clergy would be able to take advantage of the Act, but only if they reassure their bishops that they will uphold Church teaching. Clergy were also told that they should not offer formal services of blessing for couples who had been through a civil partnership ceremony, but they could pray with the couple.

Many conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Church will portray the development as undermining the Church's hard-line stance on the issue. But the bishops sought to dampen controversy over the partnerships yesterday by insisting that it will not change Church policy. They argued that the law would not introduce "gay marriage" because, although it gives partners rights in areas such as pensions, it does not presuppose sexual relations.

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday refused to declare Islam "a religion of peace." Asked by reporters whether Islam could be considered a religion of peace shortly before entering a meeting with priests and deacons of Valle d'Aosta in northwest Italy where he is spending a brief holiday, the pontiff refused to reply positively.

"I would not like to use big words to apply generic labels," he replied. "It certainly contains elements that can favor peace, it also has other elements: We must always seek the best elements."

He asked Muslims to embrace peace: "Renounce the way of violence which causes so much suffering to civilian populations, and instead to embrace the way of peace," he said in a statement issued through Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, in response to terrorist attacks at the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt.

Gov. Ed Rendell yesterday completed a five-day swing across Western Pennsylvania, handing out more than $50 million in state funding for more than three dozen economic development projects, ranging from manufacturing and technology to education and the arts.

One of the biggest winners was Dick's Sporting Goods, which received a $10.85 million financial package to use for a significant expansion of the company's 200,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Findlay.

The governor also made stops at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Neville Island and North Huntingdon, Westmoreland County, where he presented a $1 million grant for training employees at the Sony Technology Center complex.

Other grant recipients include the African-American Cultural Center, a complex planned for Downtown Pittsburgh, and the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania, which will develop a 452-acre botanical garden on a former coal mining site in Settlers Cabin Park.

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday he has no intention of seeking the presidency in 2008. The Pennsylvania conservative, who recently wrote a book titled "It Takes a Family," said he couldn't imagine putting his family through another campaign after his re-election bid in 2006.

Santorum's name has been mentioned among several potential GOP candidates for 2008."I can't speak for other politicians but I can speak for me, and my intention is not to run in 2008," he said.

No wonder 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been silent as a churchmouse about Karl Rove while her Democratic colleagues call for his prosecution for leaking classified information about CIA employee Valerie Plame.Turns out - in the only case in U.S. history of a person successfully prosecuted for leaking classified information to the press - Hillary's husband pardoned the guilty party. On January 20, 2001, President Clinton pardoned Samuel Loring Morison, a civilian analyst with the Office of Naval Intelligence. In 1984, Morison had been convicted of providing classified satellite photos of an under-construction Soviet nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Britain's Jane's Defence Weekly.He received a two-year jail sentence.

When the family of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich gathered in Pittsburgh for the fallen Marine's funeral, they expected a large crowd – after all, they've lived in the area for generations and Joseph had been a police officer before becoming a leatherneck – but they didn't expect to see Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor show up, hand out her business card and tell them "our government" opposes the war.

Goodrich, 32, and fellow western Pennsylvanian, Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Kovacicek, 22 – both second-generation Marines – were killed in Iraq two weeks ago during a mortar attack, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Goodrich's funeral was held last Tuesday.

According to Sgt. Goodrich's sister-in-law, the church was full of those "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives." Then, she says, "one uninvited guest made an appearance, Catherine Baker Knoll."

Knoll, the first woman to achieve Pennsylvania's No. 2 position, was elected in 2002 as the running mate of current governor and fellow Democrat, Ed Rendell.

Lt. Gov. Knoll sat down next to one of the Goodrich family members. During the distribution of communion, she leaned over and asked, "Who are you?" and gave the surprised family member her business card.

Most upsetting, says Goodrich, was Knoll's message to the family. "'I want you to know our government is against this war,'" Goodrich quotes the lieutenant governor.

Written apologies will be sent to a fallen Marine's relatives angered by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll's uninvited appearance at the soldier's funeral and her criticism of the war in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday.

Rep. Tom Tancredo isn't backing down from controversial comments he made last week when he told a Florida radio host that the U.S. should threaten to bomb Mecca if Islamic terrorists successfully detonate a nuclear device in America.

"If this [terror attack] happens, and if, in fact, we can prove that it was perpetrated by some fundamentalist Islamic - 'Islamo-fascist' is really I think what we should call them - then you might think about this as a threat, the retaliation on their holy sites," Tancredo told Fox News."We are talking about a situation where our very lives are at stake, not just the life of the United States, but of Western civilization," he insisted.

Last Thursday, Tancredo was asked about the prospect of an al-Qaida nuclear attack on U.S. soil. He told WFLA Florida radio host Pat Campbell: "You know, there are things that you could threaten to do before something like that happens - and then you may have to do afterwards - that are quite draconian."

The Colorado Republican then explained: "What if you said something like: If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims - you know, you could take out their holy sites." Asked if he was talking about bombing Mecca, Tancredo replied: "Yeah."

In remarks this week the Colorado Republican said that it was up to "moderate Islam" to head off the next spectacular attack. "[If] Moderate Islam [is] to survive, [it] has got to help in this fight. And if it takes some sort of catalytic statement like the one I made to help us move down that path, I guess I'm willing to say we have to go that way."

Tancredo suggested that Muslim leaders could start by cracking down on hate speech by radical imams. "I'm offended when I hear the things that are said in mosques in the United States about the United States," he told MSNBC. "I'm offended by what comes out of the schools that are called madrassas that are nothing but really, in many cases, simply breeding grounds for future terrorists." "It's going to take Islam reforming itself, taking care of this problem itself," he insisted.

The “mastermind” of the London bombings that killed 56 people and injured hundreds more is none other than Haroon Rashid Aswat, a former spokesman for Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is facing terrorism-related charges in the UK. Aswat lived in a Central Seattle mosque in late 1999 and early 2000 as he and other Islamic terrorists searched for suitable locations for a possible terrorist training camp to be established in Bly , Oregon .

Aswat arrived in Oregon in 1999 when James Ujaama, a former Seattle activist, tried to set up a jihad training camp in rur al Oregon . Ujaama was based in London , where he too had become a follower of radic al cleric Abu Hamza, an outspoken al -Qaeda supporter. Interestingly, Ujaama spent a lot of time performing community work that was so highly regarded that Seattle once gave him a key to the city! Washington state lawmakers even declared June 10, 1994, James Ujaama Day.

Aswat lived in Seattle for a few months in early 2000 in a now-defunct storefront mosque. Aswat made 20 c alls to two of the bombers. One call was made just hours before the bombs went off. He has now been arrested by Pakistani authorities while carrying a belt packed with explosives, cash and a false ID.

A PARISH priest has refused to give an Italian woman a Christian funeral because she had “lived in sin”.

Father Giuseppe Mazzotta, parish priest at Marcellinara, near Catanzaro in Calabria, said that he had denied a Christian funeral to Maria Francesca Tallarico, who died of breast cancer at the age of 45, because she had lived with her partner but never married him. Her partner was separated and had an 11-year-old daughter.

“She lived with her lover, so she was a public sinner,” Father Mazzotta said. “I decided not to celebrate an official Mass for this woman, who was not in communion with the Church.”

Father Mazzotta said that he had performed the liturgy of absolution for the dead. He added that he was close to the dead woman’s family and had offered them “words of comfort”.

The priest’s decision has underlined the growing power of conservative Catholicism in Italy. The liberal and secular Left is increasingly alarmed by the return to “Catholic values” in politics and everyday life.

A local branch of a Christian child-adoption agency has decided to change its policy and serve Catholic families. The board of directors for Bethany Christian Services of Mississippi voted unanimously Tuesday to reverse course after Robert and Sandy Steadman were rejected because of their Catholic faith.

Sandy Steadman said the rejection especially hurt because Bethany receives money from the sale of Choose Life license plates, which are purchased by many Catholics. "If it's OK to accept our money, it should be OK to open your home to us as a family," she said prior to Bethany Mississippi's change of policy, according to the Associated Press.

After learning of the change, she said, "This decision by Bethany speaks volumes. We hope and pray this unites Christians."

Glenn DeMots, president and CEO of Bethany Christian Services, said the board in Mississippi is now consistent with the group's national practice. The national board, in Grand Rapids, Mich., voted the same day to affirm that all families in agreement with the group's statement of faith, including Catholic families, are eligible to adopt.

"We are sorry for offending families and all partners of Bethany and regret any pain and hurt caused by this issue," said DeMots.

In a July 8 letter to the Steadmans rejecting their application, Bethany Mississippi director Karen Stewart wrote, "It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our statement of faith. Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."

Bethany's national office, founded in 1944, says more than 16 percent of its adoptions in 2004 were with Catholic families.

Gov. Bill Owens is weighing in on the debate over an artist given a $5000 state fellowship grant after viewing her work of art depicting sex toys on hooks.

"Obviously, this is offensive and in extremely poor taste," said Governor Owens who couldn't view the piece himself, but had it described to him by staffers. The Governor is in Washington D.C. attending an awards ceremony for the University of Northern Colorado Business School. The artist, Tsehai Johnson of Denver, received a Fellowship from the Colorado Council of the Arts in 2003.

Sen. Rick Santorum met privately Thursday with three members of an advocacy group for victims of the Catholic clergy sex-abuse scandal.

Representatives of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests sought the meeting after criticizing Santorum last week over a three-year-old column in which the Pennsylvania Republican tied the scandal to Boston's ''cultural liberalism.''Instead of demanding an apology, SNAP members asked Santorum to help them get a response from the Justice Department to their request for a federal investigation of the Catholic Church.

Santorum told reporters after the meeting that he expressed his concern for the ''horrific scandal they've had to endure personally.'' He also promised to try to help with the Justice Department.

Canada's national public radio CBC Radio has aired a commentary by a retired professor from the Royal Military College calling for state control over religion, specifically Catholicism.

While parliamentarians dismissed warnings by numerous religious leaders and experts that such laws would lead to religious persecution, former professor Bob Ferguson has called for "legislation to regulate the practice of religion."

Given the inertia of the Catholic Church, perhaps we could encourage reform by changing the environment in which all religions operate," Ferguson began his commentary in measured tones yesterday. "Couldn't we insist that human rights, employment and consumer legislation apply to them as it does other organizations? Then it would be illegal to require a particular marital status as a condition of employment or to exclude women from the priesthood. "Ferguson continued, "Of course the Vatican wouldn't like the changes, but they would come to accept them in time as a fact of life in Canada. Indeed I suspect many clergy would welcome the external pressure."

The former professor pitched his idea as a boon to religious freedom. "We could also help the general cause of religious freedom by introducing a code of moral practice for religions," he said. "They will never achieve unity so why not try for compatibility? Can't religious leaders agree to adjust doctrine so all religions can operate within the code?"

Ferguson, would see religion regulated by provinces in the same way professions are regulated. "I am an engineer so the model I am thinking about is rather like the provincial acts regulating the practice of engineering," he said. "For example, engineers must have an engineering degree from a recognized university or pass qualification exams. They must have a number of years of practical experience and pass an ethics exam. The different branches: mechanical, electrical, civil and the like have a code of practice that applies to everyone. Why can't religious groups do the same?"

The retired professor concluded his comments aired on CBC yesterday morning saying, "Now what is the point of proposing this? I do it because I am worried that the separation between church and state is under threat. Religion is important in our lives, but it can become a danger to society when people claim that the unalterable will of God is the basis for their opinions and actions. Yes religion can be a comfort and a guide, but we cannot take rules from our holy books and apply them to the modern world without democratic debate and due regard for the law."

The Justice Department opened a national registry of sex offenders Wednesday that the public can use to track thousands of offenders across the country via computer.

Assistant Attorney General Regina Schofield said the national registry was designed to be a repository for the names of an estimated 500,000 sex offenders now listed on separate websites that are maintained by states. The national registry, located at www.nsopr.gov, had records from 22 states on Wednesday. Records from the rest of the states are expected to be online by year's end, Schofield said.

An e-mail from the Mountain View, Calif.-based company cited "sensitive content" as the reason for the rejection, though it was not specific in what specifically was considered sensitive."After reviewing your application, our program specialists have found that it does not comply with our policies," the Google AdSense Team wrote. "We have reviewed your site and found that many of the ads that would appear on your site would not be relevant to your site's content. As the ads would not provide a valuable experience for your site's users or our advertisers, we feel that your site isn't a good fit for the AdSense program at this time."

The news disappointed Keith Humphrey, who was looking for ways to generate revenue for the site. "The traffic alone could have been worth hundreds of dollars per month, with links to Christian bookstores and other things, but it did not meet their 'criteria,'" Humphrey wrote in a letter to Cory Burnell, president of ChristianExodus. "No doubt they accept sites promoting 'gay marriage' and things like that, but we are the ones who are rejected due to 'sensitive content.'"

Two Republican observers will be allowed to watch, but not participate in, a meeting today by the agency that sets benefits for state workers. But a hearing on whether the panel can continue to conduct private meetings won't be held until Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Sam Smith and Appropriations Committee Chairman Brett Feese sued the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund in an effort to stop members from considering extension of health benefits to same-sex partners.

The lead article in today’s The American Prospect, an online magazine, says that President Bush’s selection of Judge John Roberts for a seat on the Supreme Court is evidence of his “Playing the Catholic card.” According to Adele M. Stan, Bush is “betting he’s bought himself some insulation—any opposition to Roberts, particularly because of his anti-abortion record, will likely be countered with accusations of anti-Catholicism.” She says this is a “timely pitch” to “conservative Catholic voters prior to the midterm elections”; she urges “liberal Catholics” and others to protest Roberts.

Stan goes even further on her blog, AddieStan, by saying “Rome must be smiling” at Bush’s choice. She asks that readers contact the Democratic Catholics on the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Roberts.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:

“We had no idea that John G. Roberts, Jr. was a Roman Catholic until today. But when we learned of his religious affiliation, we wondered how long it would be before his religion would be dragged into the debate. We didn’t have to wait too long: The American Prospect, never friendly to Catholics, let Adele M. Stan do its bidding. Roberts, she says, was chosen purely for sinister reasons.

“Now let’s apply this logic to President Clinton’s selection of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Steven Breyer for the Supreme Court. Did he do so because he liked ‘Playing the Jewish card’? And did he do so because he wanted his critics to be seen as anti-Semites? For good measure, was Israel ‘smiling’ when Clinton chose Ginsburg and Breyer?

“The fact that Jew baiting did not accompany the nominations of Ginsburg and Breyer shows how this nation has progressed. Unfortunately, within 24 hours of Roberts’ nomination, Catholic baiting has raised its ugly head. And the fact that it is coming from a mainstream liberal source is even more disconcerting. We hope this is not the beginning of an ugly few months.”

The Catholicism of Judge John Roberts concerned ABC's Barbara Walters and CNN's Miles O'Brien. On Wednesday's Good Morning America, Walters asked a friend of Roberts whether Roberts being a Roman Catholic "might affect him as a Supreme Court Justice?" Over on CNN's American Morning, O'Brien pointed out that Roberts is "a Roman Catholic who adheres to the tenets of that faith," and so asked former Senator Fred Thompson: "Do you suspect that he will advocate, when the opportunity comes up, reversing some of the key aspects of Roe vs. Wade, which provide abortion rights in this country?"

After asking Fred Thompson about the nominee's views on abortion, O'Brien countered Thompson's assurance Roberts will follow the law: "But we all bring our world view to any decision, and our philosophy-" T

hompson, via satellite from Washington, DC: "No question about it. The question is, can you set those aside and-"

O'Brien, in CNN's street-side Manhattan studio: "Well, it's difficult. But that's difficult, we're all human beings." Thompson: "Of course it's difficult." O'Brien: "He's, by all accounts, a Roman Catholic who adheres to the tenets of that faith. Do you suspect that he will advocate, when the opportunity comes up, reversing some of the key aspects of Roe vs. Wade, which provide abortion rights in this country?" Thompson reminded O'Brien of how we've had counsel for the ACLU get confirmed to Supreme Court based on the assumption they would be objective.

On Wednesday's World News Tonight, ABC's Kate Snow remarked that "it's hard to know where he'll come down on abortion cases as a justice, though he is a practicing Catholic."

From Highlands, North Carolina, Dean Colson, best man at Roberts' wedding, came aboard to discuss his friend. Amongst the questions from substitute co-host Barbara Walters: "John Roberts is a Roman Catholic. How important to him is his religion? Do you think it might affect him as a Supreme Court Justice?" Colson assured Walters that Roberts will have no trouble separating his personal views from what is in law books.

Catholics for the Common Good (CCG) advisor and spokesman Raymond L. Flynn said "It is time for Catholics to get ready to fight de facto religious discrimination during the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation proceedings. An abortion litmus test, called for by some Senate leaders and special interest groups, would leave faithful Catholics out. Catholics for the Common Good and I are launching a national campaign to educate Catholics and ask them to prepare to mobilize if religious discrimination rears its ugly head."

"It is time that concerned Catholics be heard, not just the political fringe. We must not permit qualified Catholics and other people of faith to be rejected for service on the federal bench because of their religious values and beliefs. They might as well put a sign on the Supreme Court – 'Catholics need not apply'. This is not about party or ideology but fighting for our unwavering Catholic principles."

"Catholics for the Common Good is calling on Senators to respect the Constitution, which states, 'no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States,'" said May. "Stop demanding an abortion litmus test on judicial nominees which is de facto religious discrimination and would exclude people faithful to the doctrine of their churches."

First the city is broke and now the are talking a surplus. Which is it???????

The first quarterly report by one of the city of Pittsburgh's fiscal overseers predicts a $3.97 million budget surplus this year, but the report chides elected officials for overspending.

The biggest budget problem identified is an estimated $3.27 million shortfall in collections of a new payroll tax. The report also lowers expectations of nonprofit institution contributions to the city from $6 million to $5 million. Saving the day is an estimated $4.8 million windfall from vacancies in the police ranks.

The anticipated surplus is five times the $748,000 fund balance written into the city's budget when it passed late last year, but much less than the $11 million surplus Mayor Tom Murphy predicted in May.

The quarterly report takes the mayor, council and city Controller Tom Flaherty to task for their spending. Murphy's office is on pace to overspend its $1.16 million budget by $208,000, the report says. Council and the City Clerk are on target to exceed their $1.73 million budget by $188,000, according to the report.

Flaherty is budgeted to spend $2.14 million but is on pace to spend $467,000 more, the report said. Flaherty has sued the city to prevent cuts to his watchdog office, citing a 1992 court order that sets staffing levels.

Shields, though, said he continues to be concerned, since this year's projected surplus is based on job vacancies that will be filled by next year.

In a U.S. Treasury Department memo dated July 14, 2005 that seems to have received little press coverage, authorities allege for the first time that Abdurahman Alamoudi raised money for Al Qaeda in the U.S. For those unaware, Alamoudi, 53, portrayed himself as a “moderate Muslim” who served as a liaison between the U.S. government and American Muslims for two decades. A founder of the American Muslim Council (AMC), Alamoudi played a key role in developing the Pentagon's Muslim chaplain program, represented the State Department and attended meetings at the White House spanning two administrations. Accordingly, the significance of the allegations by the U.S. Treasury Department that Alamoudi raised money for al Qaeda cannot be understated.

Pioneers in the research and investigation of Islamic terrorism such as Steve Emerson, Daniel Pipes, Bruce Tefft and others exposed the true nature of the “moderate” Alamoudi long before his arrest in September 2003 on multiple terrorism related financing charges. Convicted in 2004, the most recent allegation of Abdurahman Alamoudi raising money for al Qaeda while rubbing elbows with the Washington elite continues to boggle the mind of any reasonable person as it well should.

The July 14, 2005 Treasury Department memo stated what everyone already knew: “Alamoudi had a close relationship with al Qaida and had raised money for al Qaida in the United States.” Accordingly, how could this man be courted and accepted by the very same men and women, democrats and republicans, lawmakers and justice department officials, presidents and senators who are supposed to be fighting the war on terrorism?

When he began to work for the U.S. Department of State under President Clinton as a "goodwill ambassador" to Muslim countries, Alamoudi told the Islamic Association of Palestine in Chicago in a speech on December 29, 1996: "I think if we are outside this country, we can say oh, Allah, destroy America, but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it. You can be violent anywhere else but in America."

In the process of the investigation of Alamoudi, authorities found that he has at least indirect links to most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden through the Taibah International Aid Association, an American non-profit where he served along with Abdullah A. bin Laden, Osama's nephew.

Now, the U.S. Treasury Department confirms what has log been suspected: the ubiquitous Abdurahman Alamoudi, the Washington, DC “Moderate Muslim,” is alleged to have been raising money for al Qaeda while lunching inside the beltway.!

Ok, so my guess was wrong for the Supreme Court nominee. But President Bush did a better job in choosing John G. Roberts Jr. then I ever could.

So who is this person? While he lacks national name recognition, the Harvard-educated Roberts is a Washington insider who has worked at the White House, Justice Department and in private practice.

He was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1992 by the first President Bush and again by the president in 2001. The nominations died in the Senate both times. He was renominated in January 2003 and was confirmed by voice vote. His nomination to the appellate court attracted support from both sides of the ideological spectrum.

As both sides prepare for a battle, it is the issue of abortion that has swiftly emerged as a point of contention. Robert's is a practicing Roman Catholic, and while that is no guarantee he will be opposed to Roe vs. Wade, it provides a pretty good hint that he may be willing to overturn that decision. Especially when you take into account his case history:

As Deputy Solicitor General (arguing the positions formulated by the President, the Attorney General and other policy makers) on the issue of abortion, Roberts in a brief before the Supreme Court in Rust v. Sullivan (500 U.S. 173, 1991), Roberts wrote:

"We continue to believe that [Roe v. Wade] was wrongly decided and should be overruled. As more fully explained in our briefs, filed as amicus curiae, in Hodgson v. Minnesota, 110 S. Ct. 2926 (1990); Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 109 S. Ct. 3040 (1989); Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 476 U.S. 747 (1986); and City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983), the Court's conclusions in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion and that government has no compelling interest in protecting prenatal human life throughout pregnancy find no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution." [1]

In the same capacity as deputy solicitor general, Roberts also argued in favor of a government regulation that banned abortion-related counseling by federally-funded family planning programs.

The president kept his campaign promise to nominate someone conservative. In response, liberal groups have lined up money and media to protest Roberts' views on abortion, religious freedom, environmental protections and the First Amendment.

Over the next few weeks you will hear countless talking heads use the term "women's rights" When you hear that term know what it really means... abortion. In order for a women to have rights she must be born. There are thousands of little women (and boys) who do not have someone to defend their right to live and breath. This is not a radical idea that we are all entitled to live. Yet many will portray it as just that. It will be presented as a step back on civil rights. Have we gone so far at to buy into the notion that killing your own flesh and blood is now your "civil right"?

For those of us who have prayed and fought for a change in the moral conscience of America, we have now been called to duty. We must demand fairness and hold our elected officials accountable.

May God help us if we fail to act and continue to drift into "death for sake of convenience" as a suitable replacement for personal responsibility. If America ceases to value human life, then what is anyone of us really worth?

I was disgusted and outraged to hear about the discrimination Bethany "Christian" Services shows towards Roman Catholics by rejecting them as adoptive parents based on their faith. I posted the story here yesterday and informed a few people about this practice. One of the people I contacted was Catholic League president William Donohue. He responded by issuing this release:

The Mississippi branch of Bethany Christian Services, an adoption agency affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America, denies Catholic couples the right to adopt children. The agency receives monies collected from “Choose Life” license-plate fees, some of which have been collected from Catholics. More than 40 Catholics have complained to the Catholic League about this practice.

Responding today is Catholic League president William Donohue:“It is just as important to have the right remedy as it is to identify a real problem. In this case, the right remedy is not to grant government more police powers overseeing faith-based institutions.

“Currently, the extra fees collected from ‘Choose Life’ license plates are given to a non-governmental body, Choose Life Mississippi. This non-profit organization then distributes the private donations to appropriate pro-life centers; Bethany is one of 24 centers that receives funding. In the interest of fairness, it would make more sense to allow those who pay the additional fee the right to decide which of the approved pro-life centers should receive their donation. This kind of menu is common practice in the workplace and would insulate Bethany Christian Services from government oversight without asking Catholics to subsidize its work.

“In short, this remedy would not only allow for freedom of choice, it would also allow for diversity without sanctioning discrimination. This is precisely what I am recommending to the Mississippi lawmakers.”

The NBC network, eager for new hits to reverse a ratings slump, said on Friday it has given a mid-season 2005-06 commitment to a new drama titled "The Book of Daniel," depicting Christ as a contemporary confidant to a pill-popping priest. (I detect a pill popping programmer!)

The series stars Aidan Quinn as conflicted Episcopal minister and family man, the Rev. Daniel Webster, and Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn as his bishop. The character of Jesus is portrayed by relative newcomer Garret Dillahunt, a regular on HBO's gritty, Emmy-nominated western "Deadwood."

NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said in a statement NBC's development of the show was inspired in part by the success of religion-themed novels like the "Left Behind" series andMel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ."

Best of luck cashing in on Christ. They have obviously forgotten NBC's animated comedy "God, the Devil and Bob," that angered many Christians and flopped several years ago.

Sen. Rick Santorum, who has likened homosexuality to incest, bigamy and polygamy, said Mthat an openly homosexual member of his staff is "a trusted employee" who will continue to "have my confidence."

Santorum said there's no contradiction between his criticism of homosexuality as a lifestyle and his employment of the gay staff member, director of communications Robert L. Traynham.

"I think it squares very clearly with my public positions on every other issue, which is that I treat people fairly, I treat people equally, I treat people with dignity and respect, and irrespective of what they may or may not do outside of work," said Santorum.

In a story last week, the online gay and lesbian publication, PageOneQ, quoted Traynham as saying he is an openly gay man who supports the senator. The story was picked up by the Knight-Ridder News Service and ran in newspapers across the country.

Michael Geer, the president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which has vocally supported Santorum for opposing gay marriage, said there's a difference between employing someone who is gay and endorsing the homosexual lifestyle in public policy. He credited the senator for knowing the difference.

Venezuela's highest Catholic prelate has called President Hugo Chavez a dictator and urged Venezuelans to refuse to recognize him as the nation's leader."I am convinced that what we have here is a dictatorship," Cardinal Rosalio Castillo said in an interview.

The cardinal's comments are likely to further strain relations with Chavez, who has described the church as a "tumor."

Castillo said the people of his nation should refuse to recognize the left-wing president because he was not ruling democratically, citing an article in Venezuela's constitution stipulating that citizens could reject a leader if he violated democratic principles or human rights.

Chavez responded to Castillo's remarks by calling the cardinal an "immoral bandit and coup-mongerer."

The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) unanimously dismissed a complaint filed against Jerry Falwell Ministries and Liberty Alliance related to statements Dr. Falwell made in a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail sent during the 2004 presidential election season. Dr. Falwell was represented before the FEC by Liberty Counsel President Mathew D. Staver and Anita L. Staver.

On July 1, 2004, Dr. Falwell sent a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail urging people of faith to exercise their vote during the presidential election. In the e-mail, Dr. Falwell stated, "For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush. The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable." The e-mail also urged supporters to contribute to the Campaign for Working Families Political Action Committee.

Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that Jerry Falwell Ministries (JFM) and Liberty Alliance (LA), a lobbying organization, violated election laws by circulating an e-mail that expressly advocated the election of a federal candidate and contained a solicitation for contributions to a PAC.

Activist aims to boot entire Legislature. Now that's a headline that catches my attention! I be upfront and honest here.... I hope this happens. If you are fed up with the garbage that goes on in Harrisburg don't just complain, boot these folks out of office.

It sounds impossible, maybe even ridiculous, but Lebanon County businessman and political activist Russ Diamond insists he's serious. He'll try to persuade his fellow Pennsylvanians to make a "clean sweep" of state legislators, throwing out all incumbent House members and half of the Senate in the 2006 elections.

Diamond, who lives in Annville, 20 miles east of Harrisburg, debuted a Web site called http://www.pacleansweep.com/ as a way for other Pennsylvanians who are as upset as he is over the pay raises legislators approved for themselves to keep in contact.

He has set a wildly ambitious goal -- to look for challengers and political neophytes willing to run against the 203 incumbent House members and 25 senators in either the May 2006 primary or the November 2006 general election. Half of the 50 senators will be up for re-election next year.

He said the Web site "will list non-incumbent candidates who sign a declaration affirming their willingness, once elected, to repeal the raise [and] subject future raises to voter referendum."

Repealing the raises is virtually impossible. General Assembly leaders pushed strongly for the higher pay for themselves and the rank and file, using choice committee assignments to attract subordinates' votes and saying, correctly, that voters haven't punished legislators over a pay raise in decades. (Well a change is gonna come!)

Without any debate, state House members voted 119-79 for the pay raises at about 1 a.m. on July 7 just before adjourning for the summer. The Senate voted 27-23 an hour later, also without debate, and left the Capitol.

Pennsylvania legislators, at their new base salary of $81,050 a year, have surpassed New York and Michigan -- at $79,500 and $79,650 respectively -- and now trail only California -- at $99,000, soon to rise to $111,000. Pennsylvania also has the most full-time legislators of any state, 253. The only state with more legislators is New Hampshire, but those 424 legislators get only $100 a year for a limited number of session days per year.

I'm calling on every PA resident who reads this to support this effort! Way to go Russ! We will continue to track this right up to election day. Please pass the word.

On CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight on Friday night, anchor Lou Dobbs introduced a story about the details of a leaked account of what White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told the grand jury. Just after Dobbs explained that "President Bush's political adviser may not have been the original source for the Valerie Plame leak," but before the taped story from reporter Dana Bash could begin, a woman -- presumably positioned nearby Dobbs' microphone on CNN's set -- could be heard loudly whispering her own rejoinder: "That's bull$@*%#!"

Dobbs began: "Tonight, a surprising new development in the CIA leak investigation. Karl Rove's testimony to a federal grand jury is being reported. The testimony suggests that President Bush's political adviser may not have been the original source for the Valerie Plame leak. Rove testifying that he first learned about Plame from columnist Robert Novak, a CNN contributor. Dana Bash reports." Then, as the picture switched to footage of Bush and Rove walking together, a female voice (not Dana Bash), could be heard loudly whispering, possibly to Dobbs: "That's bull$h@t."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is defending his cameo appearance in "Wedding Crashers," the sexy comedy the Drudge Report called a "boob raunch fest."

"In Washington, I work with boobs every day," joked McCain during an appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

McCain was responding to Leno, who noted Matt Drudge ran a headline last week screaming that the Republican was starring in a "boob raunch fest."

Drudge had reported that McCain, "who once held hearings chastising Hollywood studios for producing R-rated films and marketing them to teens -- is now playing a part in one!"

In one scene in the film, veteran actress Jane Seymour goes topless in an attempt to seduce Owen Wilson, who plays a divorce attorney trying to pick up women at weddings to which he has not been invited.

Leno continued to ask McCain about the controversy, saying "suddenly you're in a porno movie."

"In Washington, D.C., there's a lot of qualities," responded McCain. "A sense of humor is not one of them."

I'm no prophet but back on July 1st I had suggested the White House might want to consider Judge Edith Clement for Supreme Court. Low and behold, the Washington Times ran this article:

President Bush is close to making his first nomination to the Supreme Court, and Washington was abuzz with speculation Tuesday about Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans. There was no word from the White House on when Bush would disclose his selection, but officials familiar with the process said it appeared an announcement was imminent.

In anticipation of a selection, officials said the White House had contacted selected Republican senators they hoped would serve as advocates for the nominee in media interviews in the initial time following an announcement. Democrats scoured the rulings and writings of leading contenders, including Clement, a 57-year-old jurist who was confirmed on a 99-0 vote by the Senate when she was elevated to the appeals court in 2001.

Known as a conservative and a strict constructionist in legal circles, Clement has eased fears among some abortion-rights advocates. She has stated that the Supreme Court "has clearly held that the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to have an abortion" and that "the law is settled in that regard."

I just stumbled upon an editorial from LifesiteNews.com about our former President Bill Clinton. It references a piece I wrote about "Bubba the Great". It's nice to know someone at Lifesite reads this blog. You can check it out here.

I developed a pretty thick skin when it comes to issues of my Catholic faith. Some just ask questions about why I believe what believe. Other have me on the fast track to hell for being Catholic. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe, but when stories like this appear, it makes me ashamed to even share the word "Christian" with people like this:

A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Mississippi's Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's "Statement of Faith."

Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.

"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany's state director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."

Sandy and Robert Steadman, who learned of Bethany's decision in a July 8 letter, said their priest told them the faith statement did not conflict with Catholic teaching.Loria Williams of nearby Ridgeland said she and her husband, Wes, had a similar experience when they started to pursue an adoption in September 2004.

"I can't believe an agency that's nationwide would act like this," Loria Williams said. "There was an agency who was Christian based but wasn't willing to help people across the board."Bethany, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has 75 offices in 30 states, including three in Mississippi. The offices are independently incorporated and are affiliated with various religions, spokesman John Van Valkenburg said from the agency headquarters. He couldn't say whether any were Catholic-affiliated.

He said the Jackson office is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America."They included this practice of not including Catholics," Van Valkenburg said Friday.Stewart told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that Bethany's board will review its policy, but she didn't specify which aspects will be addressed.

The agency's Web site says all Bethany staff and adoptive applicants personally agree with the faith statement, which describes belief in the Christian Church and the Scripture. It does not refer to any specific branches of Christianity.

"As the Savior, Jesus takes away the sins of the world," the statement says in part. "Jesus is the one in whom we are called to put our hope, our only hope for forgiveness of sin and for reconciliation with God and with one another."

Sandy Steadman said she was hurt and disappointed that Bethany received funds from the Choose Life car license plates. "I know of a lot of Catholics who get those tags," she said.She added: "If it's OK to accept our money, it should be OK to open your home to us as a family."

Bethany is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in Mississippi that receives money from the sale of Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with an extra fee.

Of $244,000 generated by the sale of the tags in 2004, Bethany received $7,053, said Geraldine Gray, treasurer of Choose Life Mississippi, which distributes the money."It is troubling to me if they are discriminating based on only the Catholics," Gray said.The Bethany spokesman, van Valkenburg, said the offices in Mississippi do not receive any public money, but that some offices in other states do, for example, because they are involved in foster care.

Powerball's Soap box: So now homosexuals and Catholics are in the same camp? We are not fit to be parents? Maybe we should remove the children from every Catholic home and put them un protective custody. The goal here should be to find loving parents for children, not match a narrow minded, twisted view of religion to people who will continue a mission of teaching discrimination disguised as faith to children. These people are the ones that should have nothing to do with children!

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said city officials need to re-evaluate the need for a hotel near Pittsburgh's convention center. Onorato said that it makes sense to re-evaluate building a 500-room hotel because hotels also are under consideration for the Strip District and may be part of a possible city slots casino. The city's occupancy rates at big hotels were below 60 percent for the first five months of the year. Onorato said there should be a review now to avoid having too many hotels.

Two new outlets have been set up for Pennsylvania taxpayers to vent their feelings about the 16 percent pay raise that state legislators gave themselves in early July.

Tonight at 7 p.m., a cable TV channel called PCN will hold a "special edition of Call-In'' for viewers who want to express an opinion on the pay raise, which will take rank-and-file legislators' pay from $69,647 to $81,050.

The hour-long program will be hosted by Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer and Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative lobbying group. Any resident of the state may participate by calling toll-free at 1-866-726-5483.Also, a new Web site has been set up with a purpose of "defeating all incumbent Pennsylvania General Assembly members in 2006,'' because of anger over the pay raise.The site, http://www.pacleansweep.com

If you are conused by the title, you are not alone! Now try to follow this ....

(Durham, North Carolina) A spurned wife has sued her husband's gay lover, accusing him of wooing away the woman's husband.

Pamela Lavone Putjenter alleged in a lawsuit filed in Durham Superior Court that Stephen Glenn Barefoot of Durham began to "willfully and intentionally seduce, entice and alienate the affections" of her husband in January 2002.

She said her husband, Ronald Joseph Putjenter, eventually admitted to the alleged affair. As a result, the couple separated in March 2004, said the lawsuit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $10,000 each.

North Carolina is one of a handful of states that still allow scorned spouses to file lawsuits and collect money damages for alienation of affection and criminal conversation, the term used in civil lawsuits to refer to sexual intercourse between a defendant and the plaintiff's spouse.

Successful plaintiffs have won awards ranging from $1 to more than $1 million.

On top of a severe drought, France is fighting a plague of hundreds of thousands of locusts. The locusts are devouring everything from crops to window-box flowers.

At the beginning they seem small, insignificant insects but they grow very quickly," said Aveyron region farmer Gerard Laussel. "They eat everything that is green, leaving only stalks, and when they have finished they leave some kind of scent so the cattle do not want to graze on what is left."

There is nothing we can do for the 700 or 800 farmers affected," said Patrice Lemoux, an agriculture official. "The locust has no known predator and the only insecticides which might make a difference are banned."

"Why do you think we would have to actually eat Jesus's flesh? In your own words, your own thoughts? If Jesus was the final flesh sacrifice and He Himself said *It is finished*, why do Catholics insist on crucifying him every mass and eating Him as well...What could this possibly do to fortify one's SPIRITUAL walk? "

Here is my response:

I'd be happy to share my thoughst with you.

I believe we are taught very clearly though scripture. Look at John 6:48-66.

This passage starts out with Jesus telling His disciples that He is the bread of life and that if people eat His flesh that, unlike their ancestors who ate manna and died, they would live for ever. This statement upsets many of His disciples because of the words used by Jesus in John's Gospel. For the word “eat” Jesus used “phago” which means to literally eat, chew or consume. For the word “flesh” Jesus used "sarx" which can only be translated or mean literal flesh. Many began questioning each other saying; "How can this be possible? "Who could accept such a teaching?" To end any confusion they might have, Jesus becomes more emphatic as he continues to preach. Now when He makes any statements pertaining to eating His flesh (starting with verse 54) He uses the word “trogo” which means to “gnaw or crunch with your teeth.” As he finishes He asks, "Does this upset you?" Many of His disciples began to leave but Jesus didn't call them back and say, Wait, you are misunderstanding me. He didn't grab anyone and say, Please stop. He didn't say, I meant that statement only figuratively not literally. He doesn’t do that because the words he used made it perfectly clear what he meant. Someday His disciples would literally eat His flesh.

In Corinthians Paul states that anyone who eats the bread or drinks the wine unworthily is behaving unworthily towards the Body and Blood of the Lord. He goes on to say that the person who eats the bread and drinks the wine not discerning that it is the actually the Lord's Body and Blood is bringing condemnation or damnation to himself.

1 Corinthians 11:26-29 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.If it were only bread and wine, how could taking it unworthily bring condemnation? The only way the above verses would make any sense would be if the bread and wine were actually the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is what I contend is taught by the Bible and the Catholic Church.As for "it is finished" my question is what is finished? How do you know what he meant and is there the slightest chance you could be wrong. Was his life on earth finshed? Was his prayer finished? Was his suffering finished?

Catholics do not crucify Jesus at every Mass. You have to understand, Jesus said his words before he was crucified. He also instructed us to continue the tradition. If you sit down with a prayerful open mind and look at scripture without the teaching of the Catholic church or the protestant church and just read the words I believe it's very clear and therefore completely biblical.

I contend that for one to be in the physical presence of Christ is a great benefit to one's spirtual walk.

Ben "Cooter" Jones has a message for fans eager to check out the soon-to-be released Dukes of Hazzard movie: Stay home, y'all.

The straight-talking Jones, who played the mechanic to the General Lee in television's Dukes from 1979-85, says he has no use for the updated feature film version of the classic and he reckons that true Dukes disciples won't either.

In an open letter to fans on his website, CootersPlace.com, Jones lays out the numerous reasons why he won't be standing in line at the box office on Aug. 5.

For one, the former actor, who served two terms as a Georgia congressman and currently operates a Dukes memorabilia store, is indignant over the fact that he and other original cast members were not consulted about the film.

However, what really sticks in the craw of the original Cooter Davenport is the kind of "toilet humor" that pervades the movie's script, ruining the "positive values" established by the television series.

"Unless they clean it up before the Aug. 5 release date I would strongly recommend that true blue Dukes fans hold their noses and pass this one up," Jones advises. "And whatever you do, don't take any youngsters to see it. As plain as I can put it, the only thing this movie shares with our show is the title."

Sen. John Kerry, who called for Karl Rove to be fired over allegations that he revealed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, outed a genuine undercover CIA agent just this past April - even after the Agency asked that his identity be kept secret.

Kerry blew the cover of CIA secret operative Fulton Armstrong during confirmation hearings for U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton. Questioning Bolton, Kerry asked: "Did Otto Reich share his belief that Fulton Armstrong should be removed for his position?" - according to a transcript excerpted by the New York Times. "The answer is yes," the top Democrat continued.

In his response to Kerry, Mr. Bolton did his best to maintain the agent's confidentiality, reverting to the Armstrong's pseudonym. "As I said," he told Kerry, "I had lost confidence in Mr. Smith, and I conveyed that."

China is prepared to destroy "hundreds” of American cities if it is attacked by the U.S. during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.

He added that China’s definition of its "territory” includes warships and aircraft, according to a report in the Financial Times. "If the Americans are determined to interfere, we will be determined to respond,” said the general, who’s also a professor at China’s National Defense University.

"We will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course, the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.”

Gen. Zhu said his views did not represent official Chinese policy. And some U.S.-based China experts said he probably did not represent the mainstream People’s Liberation Army view.

The general’s remarks came as the Pentagon is preparing to brief Congress on the Chinese military next week.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said yesterday that he hopes to send out revised 2006 property assessment values by early September.

That would give property owners several months to file appeals before they receive their tax bills for next year, Onorato told about 100 people at a town hall meeting in the Moon Area High School auditorium last night.

A paedophile sacked by a Christian publishing company after being convicted of sexually abusing a four-year-old girl is suing his employers for unfair dismissal.The claim by Geoffrey Moore, whose case will be heard by an employment tribunal next month, was described as "absurd" by a children's charity yesterday.

Moore, 65, avoided jail in May after admitting five offences of indecency with the girl and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was given a three-year community rehabilitation order, put on the sex offenders' register for five years and banned from working with children for life.

The day after the hearing, Moore, who is married with two children, was sacked by Kevin Mayhew Publishers, a firm in Buxhall, Suffolk, which specialises in hymn books and religious music. He is now claiming unfair dismissal.

When Moore, of Hightown Green, Suffolk, was arrested in November, he was allowed to keep his job. Mr Mayhew said: "As a Christian organisation, we did not think it would be fair on his wife or children to dismiss him." Instead he agreed to resign if he was sent to jail, but was sacked after the details of his offences were revealed, Mr Mayhew added.

Michelle Elliot, director of the children's charity Kidscape, said: "If abusing a four-year-old girl is not grounds for dismissal, I do not know what is."

It wasn't long ago the Mayor Murphy was talking about a budget surplus. Talk about fuzzy math. Now Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields and the city's Act 47 recovery coordinator say the city's revenues are lagging behind projections, and additional cuts may be needed in the second half of the year to stay within budget.

The Murphy administration said it's too early to project the budget until official numbers are received for the second quarter of the year. Shields, council's finance chairman, said the city could end up $6 million to $8 million short on revenue.

Get ready for the "CBS Evening Blog."As the network tries to revive CBSNews.com with an array of free video news produced exclusively for its Web site, the network said on Tuesday that it will also introduce a Web log to comment on CBS newscasts, both broadcast and online.

The eye network's blog – called Public Eye – will be written by Vaughn Ververs, former editor of The Hotline site on the Web, and will assemble questions and criticism from viewers and immediately bring in reactions from the CBS newsroom, according to the New York Times.

The network expects to cover the cost of its upgraded Internet presence by increasing the sale of advertising. CBS's evening news trails both NBC and ABC, and its news Web site lags far behind both MSNBC.com and CNN.com.

As a breakaway church led by a schismatic priest moves into its new home, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has repeated a warning that it is not a Roman Catholic Church.

Christ Hope Ecumenical Catholic Church was formed in May 2004 by the Rev. William Hausen, a former priest of the diocese. Hausen's church , which claims 300 members, had been meeting in the Sewickley Country Inn. But it has leased space in a former Episcopal church in Avalon and will hold its first service there at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Yesterday's diocesan notice said that Hausen has "voluntarily separated himself from the Catholic Church" and his church is "considered schismatic." A schismatic church "refuses submission to the authority of the Holy Father or communion with the members of the church that are subject to him and in particular, the diocesan bishop," it said.

The notice said that Catholics "cannot participate in the Christ Hope Ecumenical Catholic Church and be considered members in good standing of the Catholic Church. The Christian faithful need to know that free and willful participation in this church, including the reception of the sacraments, implies separation from the Catholic Church. This is a serious matter that no one should take upon himself or herself lightly."

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ailing with cancer, is in the hospital with a fever, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.Rehnquist was taken by ambulance to an Arlington, Va., hospital Tuesday night and was admitted for observation and tests, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. There was no immediate word on his condition Wednesday afternoon.